{"id":190488,"date":"2021-08-02T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=190488"},"modified":"2021-07-30T05:30:20","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T04:30:20","slug":"how-to-defend-yourself-against-the-powerful-new-nso-spyware-attacks-discovered-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/08\/how-to-defend-yourself-against-the-powerful-new-nso-spyware-attacks-discovered-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Defend Yourself against the Powerful New NSO Spyware Attacks Discovered Around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Even iPhones were vulnerable to the surveillance software, which appears to have been used against activists, journalists, and others.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Illustration: Soohee Cho\/The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

27 Jul 2021 – <\/em>An international group of journalists this month detailed <\/a>extensive<\/a> new evidence<\/a> that spyware made by Israeli company NSO Group was used against activists, business executives, journalists, and lawyers around the world. Even Apple\u2019s iPhone, frequently lauded for its tight security, was found to be \u201cno match<\/a>\u201d for the surveillance software, leading Johns Hopkins cryptographer Matthew Green to fret that the NSO revelations had led some hacking experts to descend into a posture of \u201csecurity nihilism<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Security nihilism is the idea that digital attacks have grown so sophisticated that there\u2019s nothing to be done to prevent them from happening or to blunt their impact. That sort of conclusion would be a mistake. For one thing, it plays into the hands of malicious hackers, who would love nothing more than for targets to stop trying to defend themselves. It\u2019s also mistaken factually: You can<\/i> defend yourself against NSO\u2019s spyware \u2014 for example, by following operational security techniques like not clicking unknown links, practicing device compartmentalization (such as using separate devices for separate apps), and having a virtual private network, or VPN, on mobile devices. Such techniques are effective against any number of digital attacks and thus useful even if NSO Group turns out to be correct in its claim that the purported evidence against the company is not valid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There may be no such thing as perfect security, as one classic adage in the field states, but that\u2019s no excuse for passivity. Here, then, are practical steps you can take to reduce your \u201cattack surface\u201d and protect yourself against spyware like NSO\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Pegasus Offers \u201cUnlimited Access to Target\u2019s Mobile Devices\u201d<\/h3>\n

The recent revelations concern a specific NSO spyware product known as Pegasus. They follow extensive prior studies of the company\u2019s software from entities like the Citizen Lab<\/a>, Amnesty International<\/a>, Article 19, R3D, and SocialTIC<\/a>. Here\u2019s what we know about Pegasus specifically.<\/p>\n

The software\u2019s capabilities were outlined in what appears to be a promotional brochure<\/a> from NSO Group dating to 2014<\/a> or earlier and made available when WikiLeaks published a trove of emails<\/a> related to a different spyware firm, Italy\u2019s Hacking Team. The brochure\u2019s authenticity cannot be confirmed, and NSO has said it is not commenting further on Pegasus. But the document markets Pegasus aggressively, saying it provides \u201cunlimited access to target\u2019s mobile devices\u201d and allows clients to \u201cremotely and covertly collect information about your target\u2019s relationships, location, phone calls, plans and activities \u2014 whenever and wherever they are.\u201d The brochure also states the Pegasus can:<\/p>\n